The Ethiopian government failed to attract any bidders for its third telecoms licence according to sources speaking to Bloomberg, as investors are put off by the current political instability in the country. 

Teraco, Africa’s largest interconnection hub and vendor-neutral data centre provider, has made two recent announcements relating to expansion in the key South African market.

It looks like Colombia’s 5G spectrum auction is still on course to take place on 20 December, as stated by the Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications (Ministerio de Tecnologias de la Informacion y las Comunicaciones, MinTIC) in June.

Liberty Latin America (LLA) tapped voice security company Hiya to launch call protection software for subscribers in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. 

The London Internet Exchange (LINX) said on Tuesday that its internet exchange point (IXP) in Nairobi is now live and ready to serve East Africa.

South Africa-based CMC Networks says it has partnered with German network solution provider aconnic to deliver NFV to service providers in Africa and the Middle East.

Tunisian national operator Tunisie Telecom, and mobile transaction platform Telepin have announced the signing of a partnership agreement for the launch of the converged charging system for Tunisie Telecom’s customers.

Google has been fined US$164,000 by a Moscow court. The fine, which was imposed on Tuesday, was said to be for repeated refusal to store Russian users' data on servers inside Russia.

Vodacom Group reported an earnings hit due to macroeconomic conditions and loss in Ethiopia, however, its acquisition of Vodafone Egypt prevented further dips. 

Globe Telecom revealed battery thefts at its network facilities have more than doubled and are putting backup supply at risk in times of natural disasters. 

Operator MTN Nigeria and the African operation of American Tower Corporation, a leading independent owner, operator and developer of multitenant communications real estate, have entered into a new agreement that, they say, is expected to enhance wireless connectivity across Nigeria.

Telecom Namibia has signed an N$100 million (US$5.2 million) agreement with Huawei to deliver a fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) core network as part of its ongoing digital transformation and network modernisation project.

Indonesian operator Telkomsel has partnered with ZTE to launch MarineMobile, a 5G-based mobile maritime solution designed to help fishermen boost productivity.

The Republic of Djibouti has launched its first satellite, Djibouti 1A. It took off last weekend from the Vandenberg Space Force Base onboard the SpaceX Transporter-9, a dedicated SSO rideshare mission carrying a variety of payloads into sun-synchronous orbit.

According to a number of recent reports, Saudi Arabia’s new Red Sea International Airport has become an early example in the region of the benefits of neutral host technology.

Pakistan’s telecoms regulator enabled operators to begin charging a SIM termination charge in January to ease the abuse of free SIM cards and combat the use of illegal activities on networks. 

Hughes Communications India (HCI) has announced a new managed services deal for cement companies ACC and Ambuja Cement, through which it plans to deploy dual LTE/4G at over 100 manufacturing and field units across India.

Now Corporation signed a memorandum of understanding with US-based LEO satellite company AST SpaceMobile in a move to connect remote locations in the Philippines. 

SES announced on Monday that it has launched two more O3b mPOWER satellites into medium orbit, making its mPOWER satellite broadband offering ready for service despite reported electrical problems with the satellites.

Liberty Latin America (LLA) will sell 1,300 mobile tower sites across Panama and various Caribbean islands to independent tower company Phoenix Tower International (PTI) in a deal valued at $407 million.

Vietnam Internet Network Information Center (VNNIC) has struck a deal with telecoms infrastructure firm CMC Telecom to establish a PoP connecting to Vietnam National Internet eXchange (VNIX) in one of its data centres.

Latvia’s Public Utilities Commission (SPRK / Sabiedrisko Pakalpojumu Regulesanas Komisija) has issued permits for 5G-ready spectrum to LMT (Latvijas Mobilais Telefons) and Tele2 Latvia following last month’s auction.

The GSMA claims that Indonesia stands to lose US$14 billion in GDP gains over the next six years if it doesn’t rethink it 5G spectrum pricing in the next auction.

ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC) has revealed plans to develop a second data centre campus in Malaysia – this one in Johor – just one week after announcing the first one.

Operator Zain KSA has announced a strong Q3 2023 financial performance driven, in part by tower-related business.

It looks like the mobile money service that helped to make Safaricom the dominant player in Kenya is making reasonable headway in Ethiopia too.

The Somalian Ministry of Communication and Technology signed a cooperation agreement with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to develop connectivity in Somalia.

Argentinean service provider Telecentro is deploying Netcracker’s Digital OSS to advance its operations automation and deliver new use cases across its operations.

Kenyan operator Safaricom, mobile financial service M-Pesa Africa, and global trading and business investment company Sumitomo Corporation are to launch the Spark Accelerator, a programme to support early-stage start-ups in Kenya in their efforts to grow and scale their businesses.